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1. How was it possible for a modern society to carry out the systematic murder of a people for no reason other than that they were Jews? 2. How was it possible for a people to almost be destroyed? 3. What makes some people resist and others obey authority? 4. How was it possible for the whole world to stand by without halting this destruction? 5. Could such a thing happen again? 6. What would I have done under similar circumstances? 7. What can such a catastrophe tell us about human nature? 8. What comparable examples are there of people’s inhumanity to others? 9. Where does one draw the line between obeying the law or 10. obeying one’s conscience? 11. What is the role and responsibility of the individual in society 12. What is your citizen’s responsibility to explore your roles as an educated and responsible human beings in a global society. 13. Why is the study of the Holocaust relevant today? 5

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1. man’s inhumanity to man can surface in a variety of historical circumstances. 2. genocide is a threat to all humanity, and the loss of one group is a loss to all. 3. prejudice has had a long history and is still alive today. 4. blind obedience to authority can be dangerous. 5. when tyranny prevails, individuals can make a difference by acts of moral courage. 6. democratic institutions and values are not automatically sustained, but need to be appreciated, nurtured, and protected. 7. silence and indifference to the suffering of others, or to the infringement of civil rights in any society, can - however, unintentionally - perpetuate the problem. 8. the Holocaust was not an accident in history - it occurred because individuals, organizations, and governments made choices that not only legalized discrimination but also allowed prejudice, hatred, and ultimately mass murder to occur. 6

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 Persecution and mass murder of as many as 11 million people by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis between 1933 and  Who were the people they targeted?  What were the events leading up to the Final Solution?  How did the genocide finally come to an end? 7

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 The consequence of unbridled racism…  Centuries-old bigotry and anti-Semitism…  Renewed by a nationalistic fervor that emerged in Europe in the latter half of the 19 th century…  Fueled by Germany’s defeat in World War I and its national humiliation following the Treaty of Versailles…  Exacerbated by worldwide economic hard times…  The ineffectiveness of the Weimar Republic…  International indifference…  Catalyzed by the political charisma and manipulative propaganda of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime… 8

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 The Holocaust corresponds with the political rise of one man: Adolf Hitler.  He became Chancellor of Germany on January 30,  By the middle of the next year, he was dictator with the title of Fuhrer. 9

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 Hitler had started cleansing, what he called, 'the master race' almost as soon as he took office.  In addition to the nearly six million Jews he targeted, there were more than five million non-Jewish victims as well.  The Nazi regime tried to eliminate anyone who might pose a political threat, including: › communists, journalists and various Christians who opposed Hitler › those who would 'dilute' the Aryan gene pool, such as Romani, Jews, blacks and the handicapped › criminals and others who drained the economic system › people they just didn't like, such as homosexuals 10

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 Victims subject to heavy labor, forced abortions and sterilization.  Assets stolen & imprisoned in a concentration camp anywhere in the Third German Empire, or Reich.  Often executed or worked to death.  Current estimates total about 20,000 camps. 11

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 Hitler had specifically blamed Jews for his nation's problems since  Anti-Semitism not new in Europe, but the Nazis went from prejudice to murder.  Jews identified by voluntary registration, census and immigration records, synagogue membership rolls, and informants (bounties).  In increasingly strict laws stripped away Jewish rights, including land ownership.  Barred from professions like law, medicine, journalism, military.  By lost their citizenship & personal, business and property restrictions and regulations were enacted. 12

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 The Night of Broken Glass – Kristallnacht.  November turning point in Jewish persecution.  Retribution for the murder of a German embassy employee in Paris by a German-born Jewish student.  More than 9,000 Jewish-owned businesses, homes and synagogues were destroyed or vandalized.  91 Jewish men were murdered, and upwards of 30,000 were arrested and sent to concentration camps.  German government eliminated Jews from the economy, remaining Jewish-owned property was seized and Jewish children were expelled from public schools.  Jewish community as a whole was fined one billion marks to pay for the damage of Kristallnacht. 13

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 Hitler invaded Poland in  Separated the 'undesirable' citizens from the rest of the population.  100,000’s of Jews were relocated into ghettos near railroad lines.  Polish Jews became slaves and wear a white Star of David on their arms.  Jews throughout the Reich - required to wear the recognizable yellow Star of David on their chests. 14

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 Nazis conquered more territory - encountered more and more of what they called 'sub-humans,' including Allied POWs.  Germany began deporting Jews to concentration camps.  Those allowed to remain at home became slave labor in the war industries.  In newly occupied lands - simply kill as many Jews as possible on the spot, pay locals to do it, send to camps.  Hitler's allies started their own cleansing programs. 15

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 Summer of Fuhrer ordered the systematic extermination of all Jewish people in Europe.  Final Solution  Genocide program began at Auschwitz – ultimately six death camps, all in Poland, specially equipped for mass murder.  European Jews & other 'undesirables,' were typically deported by freight and cattle cars, packed shoulder to shoulder for days - no room to sit, no protection from weather, no food, water or bathroom facilities.  Those who survived the train ride were separated upon arrival. 16

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 Summer of Fuhrer ordered the systematic extermination of all Jewish people in Europe.  Final Solution  Genocide program began at Auschwitz - ultimately included six death camps, all in Poland, specially equipped for mass murder.  European Jews & other 'undesirables,' were typically deported by freight and cattle cars, packed shoulder to shoulder for days - no room to sit, no protection from weather, no food, water or bathroom facilities.  Those who survived the train ride were separated upon arrival. 17

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 Useful prisoners were tattooed with a number, stripped of their clothes and belongings, shaved and hosed down.  Allowed to live as long as they were productive workers for the German war machine.  Not useful enough - killed immediately, including almost all children and the elderly.  Zyklon-B gas became the preferred method.  Early victims were buried in mass graves, but cremation soon became the only sustainable option. 18

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 Little resistance/rebellion in the camps or ghettos.  Nazis suppressed all uprisings.  A few managed to escape to safety.  Nazi doctors viewed the masses of defenseless prisoners as lab rats - human trials on a variety of medical experiments.  Deliberately inflicted and then tested various treatments for diseases, poisons, frostbite, hypothermia and battle wounds, including amputations and transplants.  Other doctors - the most efficient ways to exterminate all the 'sub-humans,' such as sterilization and execution techniques. 19

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 D-Day - Allied invade Northern France on June 6,  Camps increased executions - record daily high of 9,000 at Auschwitz - faster than they could dispose of the bodies.  Soviet army liberated the first camp in July.  Nazis started eliminating as much evidence as possible, destroying camps and moving the prisoners as the Allies closed in.  Auschwitz discovered January two million people murdered there.  First camp to be liberated by American troops was Buchenwald in April  April 30, Adolf Hitler commits suicide.  Germany surrendered a week later.  The war in Europe and the Holocaust were finally over. 21

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 The Holocaust and murder of 11 million people at the hands of Hitler's regime in Nazi Germany.  Five million 'undesirable' people and six million Jews were systematically stripped of their rights and property, imprisoned and often killed.  The Final Solution attempted to exterminate all Jewish people in death camps, such as Auschwitz.  Before their deaths, many prisoners were used as slave labor or as unwilling subjects in medical experiments.  The Holocaust ended with Germany's surrender at the end of World War II in May

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 How can you connect the history of the Holocaust to other world events and to the world you live in today?  Reflect on what you have learned and consider what this study means to you personally and as citizens of a democracy.  I did not know that…  I couldn’t believe that…  If I were _____, I think I…  If I were _____, I wish I…  This incident reminds me of a time when…  This incident reminds me of a book in which…  This incident reminds me of an experience that…  When I read ______, I…  I think that…  This person, ______, is similar to _____ because…  This event is ______, is similar to because… 23